Brownian Motion

A script for a high school graduation reflection video

Remember to drink 3.7 liters of water per day to maintain adequate hydration.

Remember to brush your teeth twice a day. Your dentist says to do it three times, but we both know that’s not going to happen.

Remember to raise your hand. Ask stupid questions. Give stupid answers. Then, learn from them. Do things that you aren’t good at, so that you can improve. It’s better to look like an idiot than to actually be one.

Remember to be spontaneous. Too many times I’ve tried to treat life like some kind of calculus optimization problem: maximize happiness; maximize productivity; maximize future earning potential. And yeah, sometimes that’s a good thing. But you can spare a morning to journey around town with your friends, or an afternoon to blow dandelion seeds into the wind. So take those random turns through the streets of Venice. Wake up at five in the morning to watch the sunrise on the Harvard bridge. Code up that random project just because you can.

Remember Faraday’s law: the induced voltage in a wire is equal to the opposite of the derivative of the magnetic flux with respect to time. Try your best to remember all of the other formulas and algorithms and peace treaties and literary techniques. But more importantly than the content you’ve learned in school, remember how to put together an argument. Remember how to reason through a proof. Remember how to truly understand a concept.

Remember that life is never perfect. I have a million regrets, and I’ve made a million mistakes. Sometimes, things just haven’t worked out. Sometimes, I’ve done things that I haven’t been able to fix. But I think that’s a part of growing up: facing your imperfections, and trying your hardest to make things better. And when you feel down, when you feel that you’ve hit rock bottom, when you find yourself midway through life’s journey, alone in Dante’s dark wood, know that you’ve been there before. And know that every time, you’ve managed to find your way out.

Remember to eat. I know you forget sometimes! Trader Joe's is a ten minute walk from campus; remember how to microwave food; please do not starve. That would be very bad.

Remember to talk to your friends. You’ve been through hell and back with them by your side, and even as you start to make new ones for college, don’t lose track of those who’ve supported you through these four years. You’re going to be scattered across the country, but the world is a smaller place than it seems. And love is in the little things: the daily random photo, the little text that says “how are you?” ― the message of “I’m here with you, even through the most mundane of moments.”

Remember where you’re from. Those blistering cities and rolling rice fields and towering mountains and constant motorcycle fumes feel so far away, because they are. But although you’ve spent so many years apart, they will forever be your first home.

Remember who you’re from. The statistics say that by now, you’ve spent 90% of the time you’ll ever spend with your parents. Make the most of the 10% you’ve got left. They aren’t perfect, and neither are you, but they’ve tried their hardest to put you where you are today ― and now, it’s your turn to help them.

Remember to find things worth loving, even if you aren’t sure what love is. Remember to build things, not necessarily because they are useful, but because they are fun. Remember to have a nonnegative impact on this world.

Remember to live.

Best,
Jieruei